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Jisc toolkit helps university presses publish OA


Jisc is launching a toolkit that will help new university presses find sustainable ways to publish open access. Funder policies surrounding OA have


led to a revival in university presses in the UK and overseas. A 2017 report found in the prior five years, 21 new university presses (NUPs) became operational, and this number may rise to 30 within five years. Graham Stone, subject matter expert on


OA monographs at Jisc and co-developer of the toolkit, said: ‘A growing number of universities and academics have set up their own presses in an attempt to take back control and autonomy from the large commercial publishing houses. ‘Most of these new presses are faced with the challenge of making open access publishing a reality. ‘This toolkit will support new and


existing university and library OA publishing ventures, as well as those with a hybrid model.’ The toolkit has its roots in the


2017 Landscape study of NUPs and academic-led publishing, Changing publishing ecologies. One of the report’s recommendations was to create a best- practice toolkit to assist with the planning and establishment of new university and library-led presses publishing OA material. It was developed with the input from an international editorial advisory board


consisting of university presses from Liverpool, Stockholm, Westminster, White Rose and University College London, and other experts in the field. Depending on the maturity and size of the press, this toolkit will help existing NUPs, as well as those planning to launch or investigate whether to establish a new press, to better understand the following key questions: • How to get institutional buy-in, and understand resource and budget requirements to justify the start-up of a press;


• How to achieve sustainability and define what it is – e.g., service to researchers and/or growing prestige; and


• How to attract and support authors. The toolkit is structured into 11 main


European expansion continues for ISSN network


The ISSN International Centre is moving from strength to strength with two national centres recently opened. The 92nd national centre in the ISSN Network opened in Austria on 1 April, after the launch of the ISSN National Centre for Ukraine in mid- March.


The Hauptverband des


Österreichischen Buchhandels (the Austrian Publishers and Booksellers Association), in Vienna, hosts the ISSN National Centre for Austria. Gaëlle Béquet, director of


the ISSN International Centre, described the move as ‘a great


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achievement for the ISSN Network to welcome Austria as a new member country and the Hauptverband des Österreichischen Buchhandels as a new ISSN Centre’. She continued: ‘Our Austrian


colleagues are seasoned professionals who work closely with publishers and show great interest in serial identification activities. ‘The ISSN International


Centre stands by ISSN Austria to achieve a smooth transition for the benefit of the publishing, scholarly and library communities of this country.’


Benedikt Föger, president of the Hauptverband des Österreichischen Buchhandels, added: ‘When looking at the way the Austrian Booksellers Association has professionally operated the Austrian ISBN Agency for years, our association becoming the Austrian ISSN National Centre feels almost predestined.


‘So I was all the more


pleased to learn that we meet all the criteria for joining the ISSN Community.’ Since 1975, the ISSN


International Centre (ISSN IC) has co-ordinated the activities


of the ISSN Network of 92 member countries, and is responsible for maintaining and publishing the ISSN International Register and its associated services available on the ISSN Portal (portal.issn. org).


The Austrian Publishers and Booksellers Association has been representing the interests of booksellers, publishers, delivery agents, publishing house representatives and antiquarian booksellers at home and abroad in a non- partisan and objective manner since 1859.


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sections and is provided with a CC-BY licence so that the content can be shared, reused and re-purposed. Although the Jisc toolkit is initially aimed at UK institutions, it draws on international best practice and case studies making the content applicable to a global audience. Support for individual researchers who wish to understand more about open access for books is available via the OAPEN Open Access Books Toolkit, which was developed at the same time but covers slightly different issues around open access publishing. The toolkit will be reviewed regularly, and the editorial advisory board will commission new work in response to changes in the publishing landscape and user feedback.


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